Mega Bonuses of 50 Months’ Salary Handed Out by Shipping Firm

Mega Bonuses of 50 Months’ Salary Handed Out by Shipping Firm
Samson Ellis and Yvonne Man January 9, 2023 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-09/taiwan-shipping-giant...

*Evergreen Marine revenue has soared amid pandemic buying spree
*Overseas staff got smaller bonuses, call out unfair treatment

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp. is celebrating a standout year by awarding stellar bonuses to some of its staff. 

The Taipei-based shipping company is handing out year-end bonuses equal to 50 months salary, or more than four years’ pay, on average, according to a person familiar with the matter. The size of the windfall varies depending on an employee’s job grade and function and the outsized bonuses are only applicable for staff with Taiwan-based contracts, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.

Year-end bonuses have always been based on the company’s performance for the year and the individual performance of employees, Evergreen Marine said in a statement Friday, declining to elaborate.

Evergreen Marine’s largesse is the result of an unprecedented industry-wide shipping boom over the past two years, driven by a pandemic-fueled surge in demand for consumer goods and freight rates. The company’s 2022 revenue is expected to soar to a record NT$634.6 billion ($20.7 billion), more than triple 2020 sales.

Evergreen Marine, which attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons in early 2021 when a ship it operated got stuck in the Suez Canal, roiling supply chains, doled out bonuses up to 52 months salary, Taipei’s Economic Daily News reported last week. Some employees received payments of more than $65,000 on Dec. 30, the news outlet said, without disclosing where it got the information.

Not all Evergreen Marine’s staff have been so lucky though. Its Shanghai-based employees have complained of unfair treatment after they only got bonuses of between five and eight times their monthly salaries, Caixin reported, citing local workers.

The recent pay day may be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future, however. Shipping companies have warned that rapidly weakening global growth combined with falling freight rates are likely to hurt profitability this year. Evergreen Marine’s stock tumbled 54% last year after a stunning 250% gain in 2021.

— With assistance by Cindy Wang